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5am ice baths and no food at the weekend: Twitter boss faces backlash for 'grim' daily ritual

Jack Dorsey, co-founder and chief executive officer of Twitter. (Getty)
Jack Dorsey, co-founder and chief executive officer of Twitter. (Getty)

Billionaire entrepreneurs are sometimes known for their eccentric lifestyles, but Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s is being ridiculed on his own platform.

The 42-year-old’s daily rituals are extreme even by the standards of Silicon Valley.

Dorsey only eats one meal a day, avoids food almost entirely at the weekends and once avoided eye contact for ten days straight while on holiday.

Twitters headquarters in San Francisco, the home of many tech entrepreneurs who are known for unusual lifestyle habits.
Twitters headquarters in San Francisco, the home of many tech entrepreneurs who are known for unusual lifestyle habits.

He starts his day with a 5am ice bath, telling the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast: “I feel like if I can will myself to do that thing that seems so small but hurts so much, I can do nearly anything.”

The extreme rituals are carried out in an attempt to improve Mr Dorsey’s mental “wellness”.

He added: “Nothing has given me more mental confidence than being able to go straight from room temperature into the cold.”

If he’s not satisfied the freezing cold bath has tested his endurance enough he sometimes alternates between three-minute cold dips and 15-minute sessions in a sauna at a scorching 104C.

Mr Dorsey is a billionaire even though historically Twitter has struggled to make a profit.
Mr Dorsey is a billionaire even though historically Twitter has struggled to make a profit.

Once he has finished his extreme wash, he skips breakfast entirely and meditates for an hour instead.

It’s Dorsey’s eating habits which attracted the most criticism.

The tech boss eats one meal a day, which usually consists of a “really big” plate of fish, chicken or steak with salad, spinach or brussels sprouts.

At weekends he subjects himself to even more intense fasting, saying: “I won’t have dinner on Friday. I won’t have dinner or any meal on Saturday. And the first time I’ll eat will be Sunday evening.”

If he sticks to this routine, it would mean he only eats five meals a week.

Users of his own platform have accused him of promoting an unhealthy diet and normalising eating disorders.

Allison Chase, an eating disorder expert and executive director at the Eating Recovery Center in Texas told the HuffPost: “Any time you severely restrict what and when you’re eating, it can easily spiral into an eating disorder.

“Labelling such behaviours as ‘wellness’ gives the false notion that it’s a healthy lifestyle, which it’s not, and can encourage others to follow suit. This can be especially detrimental to those who are battling, in recovery from or predisposed to an eating disorder.”

Mr Dorsey’s intense lifestyle doesn’t stop when he’s on holiday.

During a trip to Burma last year to celebrate his birthday he tweeted: “During the ten days: no devices, reading, writing, physical exercise, music, intoxicants, meat, talking, or even eye contact with others. It’s free: everything is given to meditators by charity.”

He isn’t the only Silicon Valley CEO to practice fasting. It has become a popular habit for rich tech entrepreneurs who take part in a trend called ‘biohacking’.

Biohacking is a buzzword used in hi-tech circles that combines wellness, anti-aging science, and a simple lifestyle in an attempt to make the human body function better.

Evernote’s Phil Libin also practices intense fasting and he told the Guardian the habit was “transformative”, saying it improved his mood and gave it more energy.

Phil Libin was the CEO of Evernote from 2007 to 2015 before becoming the Executive Chairman of the company’s board.
Phil Libin was the CEO of Evernote from 2007 to 2015 before becoming the Executive Chairman of the company’s board.

Silicon Valley millionaire Serge Faguet has spent a large amount of his fortune attempting to improve his body in a drive to achieve his goal of living forever.

He said in an article posted on tech website Hacker Noon he’d increased his intelligence by having more sex and micro-dosing MDMA.

His ultimate goal is to ‘merge his body with a robot to become some sort of ultra-human’.

Earlier this year, it was revealed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg once killed a goat and served its meat cold.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is know for wearing the same outfit every day. (Getty)
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is know for wearing the same outfit every day. (Getty)

Mr Zuckerberg is known for wearing the same clothes every day, and while he doesn’t fast, he has said he doesn’t think much about what he eats.

He’s installed an AI assistant in his home that can help with his daily chores, all of this is part of his attempt to reduce the number of decisions he has to make and focus more of his intellectual energy while on his work.